Blues' Elliott has been stingy since replacing injured Allen

Blues' Elliott has been stingy since replacing injured Allen

R.B. FALLSTROM

Feb. 11, 2016

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brian Elliott is on a roll. Too bad the St. Louis Blues have little to show for it.

During a prolonged scoring slump, the veteran goalie's play has bordered on spectacular. He has seized the opportunity since Jake Allen was sidelined by a knee injury in early January.

The 30-year-old Elliott has allowed one or fewer goals in regulation and overtime in five of his last seven starts, a run that has put him among the NHL's best with a 2.07 goals-against average and .932 save percentage on the season.

"Fantastic," captain David Backes said after Elliott's latest standout effort in a 2-1 shootout loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday. "You can't complain about our goaltending, that's for dang sure."

"Our goalie was our best player again. Played great," coach Ken Hitchcock said.

The rest of the team is in the doldrums, and the bottom line is the Blues have lost four of six. The Blues have scored no more than one goal in five of their last six.

Hitchcock said the offense didn't work nearly hard enough to sustain chances against the Jets, then put his players through a rigorous workout the next day to drive home the point. The defense is adjusting to expanded roles without Alex Pietrangelo, who is among the league leaders in minutes played but will be sidelined at least three weeks with a right knee injury.

Elliott describes Pietrangelo as the type of player who "stick handles in a phone booth" to get the puck out of the zone.

"Umm, we have some work to do," Hitchcock said. "It's pretty obvious."

Elliott has thrived with a heavy work load and is set to make his 13th consecutive start on Friday at Florida. Last year, Elliott was an All-Star.

"It's fun, it's awesome," Elliott said. "It's why you play, to play the game and not to watch."

Before relieving Allen on Jan. 8 in the second period at Anaheim, Elliott had played just three games in the previous 14. There was no question who was No. 1.

Whenever Allen returns, it's liable to be more of a job share.

"You try not to think about the past and the future, you just focus on the present," Elliott said. "I don't really look at the stats, I just keep trying to be the rock back there for the guys."

The last week or so, the 25-year-old Allen has been jumping into the latter stages of practices. Hitchcock said there'll be something to talk about when he's a full participant.

The team is hoping injecting Jaden Schwartz will help revive the offense. The speedy forward was third on the team with 63 points last season but has played just seven games this season and is coming off a 49-game layoff from a broken left ankle heading into Friday's game.

"It doesn't matter how many goals we score, you want to keep as many as you can out of your own net," Allen said. "Obviously, we haven't had a good amount of goals the last few games but we're still coming out with some points."

Despite the scoring drought, the Blues have kept themselves in the vanguard, picking up at least a point in 12 of the last 15 games. Nine of them have been decided by a single goal.